Container for spools of shock-sensitive elongated material



L. B. ROSEN Nov. 8, 1966 CONTAINER FOR SPOOLS OF SHOCK-SENSITIVEELONGATED MATERIAL Filed Oct. 25, 1965 FIG I- FIG 2 INVENTOR Leonard B.Rosen ATTORNEYS United States Patent M 3,283,892 CONTAINER FOR SPOOLS OFSHOCK-SENSITIVE ELONGATED MATERIAL Leonard B. Rosen, RD. 2, Jamestown,Pa. Filed 0st. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 503,473 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-65) Thisinvention relates to a container for spools of convolutely woundmaterial and relates more particularly to protective receptacles forshipping and handling of materials which are particularly sensitive toshocks incurrred during the procedures.

Various materials of the type described, such as thread, yarn, wire,rope and the like, are conventionally wound upon the central coreportion of a spool or reel having outwardly extending upper and lowerflange members at the extremities of the core portion adapted toprecludeundesirable loss of the material from the spool. Such spools ordinarilyhave a central bore for rotatably mounting the same on the spindle of aprocessing apparatus in conjunction with which the elongated material isto be utilized. Certain of these materials are particularly sensitive tothe shocks frequently encountered during ordinary shipping or handlingof the reels. For example, the wire utilized in the primary andsecondary windings of a transformer in normally covered with arelatively thin, and sometimes quite brittle, coating of insulatingmaterial such as plastic or shellac. Similarly, the wire materialsconventionally used in armature and field windings of electric motorsand in the coils of inductors for tuned circuits, particularly forelements of relatively high quality, is also rather easily damaged. Forthis reason, reels of such material are presently overwrapped with paperand tape and inserted into a corrugated box by the manufacturer beforeshipping the same to a customer. It will be obvious that such aprocedure is extremely time consuming and relatively expensive. Further,once the spool is removed from the shipping container and the paper andtape covering stripped from their protective relationship with respectto the wire, great care must be taken with subsequent handling of thespool. In some instances, when only a portion of the material on a spoolis utilized, rewrapping of the same becomes necessary if protectionagainst damage during storage is to be pre- 'cluded.

Thus, it becomes obvious that there is a great need for a simpleprotective shipping and handling container for use with spools of suchdelicate elongated material. It is therefore a primary object of theinstant invention to provide such a container.

Considering the foregoing, an important objective of this invention isthe provision of a receptacle into which a spool of easily damagedmaterial can be quickly inserted for shipping, storage or handling thesame, and from which the spool may be readily removed for subsequent useof the wound material. In this regard, a significant object of theinstant invention is the provision of a container of the type describedhaving a gripping means adapted to resiliently engage a portion of thespool with a continuous protective wall extending between the flangemembers of the reel in spaced, overlying relationship to the materialthe-rewithin. Thus, any shocks received during handling of the containerwill be transferred directly to the spool through its flange membersrather than causing any damage to the delicate elongated materialcarried thereby.

A preferred feature of the instant invention is the provision of acontainer of the type described wherein, an addition to gripping meansinside the lower end portion of the same for resiliently engaging thelower flange of a spool received thereby, the inside of the upper endpor- Patented Nov. 8, 1966 tion of the container is dimensioned tofrictionally engage the upper flange of the spool when the end of theelongated material is tapered thereto for easy access as is conventionalwith such elements.

Yet another important feature of this invention is the provision of:such a protective container and an ejector means for use therewithwhich will automatically release the container from its grippingrelationship with the spool whereby the spool may be removed forsubsequent use of the elongated material carried thereby, or whereby theelongated material may be directly unwound from the spool during usewithout completely removing the spool from the container.

It is to be understood that although the instant invention isparticularly useful for protect-ing shock-sensitive materials, and, forthat reason, the instant specification is generally described withrelation thereto, the construction of the container of this invention isequally applicable to use with spools of other, more sturdy elongatedmaterials such as rope, thread, yarn or the like.

Other and further objects reside in the combination of elements,arrangement of parts and features of construction.

Still other objects will in part be obvious and in part be pointed outas the description of the invention proceeds and as shown in theaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an exploded perspective view of a spool of convolutely woundelongated material, a preferred form of container therefor according tothe instant invention. and a separate ejector means for use in releasingthe spool from the container, parts being broken away for illustrativeclarity;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view through a spool andcontainer according to this invention show-ing the spool partiallyejected from the container by an ejector means integral with a piece ofprocessing machinery;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of protectivecontainer according to this invention having a spool of elongatedmaterial therewithin, and

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view, to a smaller scale, of a shipping boxfor use with a plurality of protective containers in accordance withthis invention, parts being broken away for illustrative clarity.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the severalviews of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in general and more particularly to FIGURE1, a conventional spool or reel is designated generally by the referencenumeral 10 and comprises basically a central core portion 12 having anelongated bore 14 therethrough, withupper and lower flange members 16,18 extending outwardly from the core portion 12 at the extremities ofthe same. An elongated material 20 is generally convolutely woundthereon with the exterior layer of the same extending from the coreportion 12 a distance less than the peripheral edges of the flangemembers 16, 18. The end portion 22 of the elongated material 20 isnormally secured to the upper flange 16 as by tape 24 to facilitateaccess to the same.

The protective container of the instant invention is designatedgenerally by the reference numeral 25 and comprises basically anelongated, continuous, hollow wall means 26 which is at leastsubstantially as long as. the reel 10 whereby it will extend between theupper and lower flange members 16, 18 when the reel is inserted therein.The upper end of the wall means 26 is open as shown at 28 for receptionof the reel 10 during packaging and is preferably dimensioned tofrictionally grip the upper flange member 16 of the reel 10 when the endportion 22 of the elongated material 20 is taped thereto.

The lower end portion of the wall means 26 is at least partially closedto preclude passage of the reel 10 therethrough, an inwardly directedoifset portion 28 being shown for this purpose.

A gripping means in the form of an inwardly directed flexible bead 30 iscarried by the interior of the wall means 26 and is spaced from theoifset portion 28 a distance substantially equal to the height of thelower flange member 18 of the reel whereby the lower flange member isresiliently wedge-d between the flexible bead 30 and the offset portion28 when the reel 10 is fully inserted into the container 25. It is to beunderstood that this flexible element may be in the form of a pluralityof spaced fingers (not shown) or even a single finger rather than thecontinuous bead illustrated in the drawings. Further, although theflexible element 30 is shown as integral with the wall means 26, whichis possible if the wall means is formed of a flexible plastic materialsuch as. polyethylene or the like, it is to be understood that if theremainder of the container 25 is formed of a substantially rigidmaterial such as high-impact polystyrene or corrugated cardboard, theflexible element may be secured in any conventional maner to theinterior of the wall means 26.

The oifset element 28 at the bottom end of the container 25 preferablydefines an opening 32 for reception of the spindle portion of an ejectormeans which is illustratively shown at 35 as a separate element inFIGURE 1. In the embodiment of FIGURE 2 the ejector means 35a is anintegral portion of the processing machinery with which the elongatedmaterial is to be utilized, a portion of such machinery being identifiedgenerally by the reference numeral 36. In either event, the ejectormeans includes a central spindle element 38 or 38a dimensioned forreception in the bore 14 of the spool 10 and an offset ledge portion 40or 40a smaller than the opening 32 of the container 25, but larger thanthe bore 14 of the spool 10.

The use and operation of the instant inventive device will now bereadily understood. The spool 1E of convolutely wound elongated material20, with or without the end 22 of the same taped to the upper flangemember 16 is inserted into the open upper end 28 of the container 25,pressure being applied against the top of the spool 10 to force thelower flange member 18 past the flexible element 30 whereby it will bewedged between the flexible element and the offset portion 28 of thecontainer to preclude accidental disengagement between the container andthe spool. In this closed position the continuous wall means 26 extendsbetween the upper and lower flanges 16, 18, respectively, in spacedprotective, overlying relationship to the exterior layer of the woundelongated material 20. Thus, as explained hereinabove, any shockencountered by the container during shipment or handling will betransmitted to the spool 10 through the flanges 16, 18 rather thandamaging the material 20.

Release of the spool 10 may be readily accomplished by merely placingthe container having the spool therein over the spindle element 38 or38a of the ejector means until the lower end of the spool is engaged bythe ledge portion 40 or 40a whereby further downward pressure on thecontainer 25 will press the spool 10 upwardly until the lower flangemember 18 of the same is disengaged from the flexible element 30. Atthis point, the spool 19 can be completely removed from the container25, if desired, or, the material 20 may be unwound from the spool withthe container loosely circumscribing the same as shown in FIGURE 2.Then, the container may be readily reengaged in protective relationshipwith the spool during any down-time of the machinery 36 or if apartially full spool is to be removed for storage purposes.

In FIGURE 3 a slightly modified embodiment of the container shown inFIGURE 1 is illustrated wherein a slit portion 42 extends partiallydownward from the open upper end of the same to provide the upper endwith sufficient flexibility to preclude undue binding of the flangemembers of the spool during insertion into, or removal from, thecontainer.

As mentioned previously, the container of the instant invention may bemade of a variety of materials including various plastics, corrugatedcardboard, pressed fibrous materials and the like. If desired, thecontainer may be transparent in order to facilitate viewing the materialwound thereonto determine when the spool is substan tially depleted,particularly if the container is to be retained in loose, ciroumscribingrelation during use of the material as shown in FIGURE 2.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, a shipping box for use with the protectivecontainers of the instant invention is designated generally by thereference numeral 45 and may include a cover 46, if desired. The insideof the bottom 43 of the shipping box 45 has a plurality of spindles 50secured thereto in any conventional manner and s0 arranged as to eachreceive thereover a spool 10 of material 20 within its protectivecontainer 25. The spindles 5th are dimensioned to be received in theelongated bore 14 of the core portions 12 of the reels 10. The shippingbox 45 may be made of any desired material such as corrugated cardboard,fiber board, plastic or the like and the spindles 50 may be eitherintegral with the bottom 48, adhesively secured or otherwise held infixed relation therewith for reception of the containers 25.

Such an arrangement provides further protection for the material 20during shipping or storing of the same and facilitates handling by theultimate user. The container 25 may be packed in the shipping box 45with their upper ends disposed downwardly over the spindles 50 as shownin FIGURE 4 in order that the operator may merely lift the same from theshipping box, reverse the containers and place them over the spindle ofthe ejector means for use. On depletion of a reel of material, theoperator can then merely reinsert the spool over the spindles in theempty shipping box with the protective containers disposed thereover tofacilitate return of the entire package to the manufacturer of theelongated material for reuse. Thus, not only is the elongated material20 protected from shock by the container 25 as well as by its relativelystable position within the shipping box 45, but the spools 10, thecontainers 25 and the shipping box 45 are all re-usable, with the formerelements being returned in the shipping box for subsequent processingwhereby they will be free from the normal damage encountered by priorart techniques of merely piling numerous spools on top of each other ina shipping carton for return to the manufacturer of the elongatedmaterial. Since such spools cost about 60 cents a piece and arefrequently damaged beyond use by conventional handling.

techniques, the overall assembly of the instant invention producessubstantial saving in this regard alone.

Thus, it will now be seen that there is herein provided an improvedprotective container, particularly adapted for use with spools ofdelicate or shock-sensitive elongated materials, which satisfies all ofthe objectives of the instant invention, and others, including manyadvantages of great practical utility and commercial importance.

Since many embodiments may be made of the instant inventive concept, andsince many modifications may be made of the embodiments hereinbeforeshown and described, it is to be understood that all matter herein is tobe interpreted merely as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.Accordingly,

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a reel having a longitudinally extending central coreand upper and lower flange members carried by said core at theextremities of said core, said flange members extending at leastsubstantially perpendicularly to said core, each of said flange membershaving a peripheral portion spaced from said core, said peripheralportions of said upper and lower flange members being substantiallyaligned, an elongated filamentary material wound on said core with theexterior layer of said matreial extending a distance less than saidperipheral portions of said flange members from said core,

a container receiving said reel and including an elongated,

continuous, tubular side wall with an open upper end, said side wallbeing at least substantially as long as the height of said reel andextending between said peripheral portions of said flange members inspaced, protective, overlying relationship to said elongated material,the interior of said side wall corresponding in configuration to theshape of said peripheral portions of said flange members and slightlyexceeding the dimensions of said flange members to define a spacebetween the interior of said side wall and said peripheral portions ofsaid flange members, an inwardly directed bottom element carried by thelower end of said side wall to at least partially close the same tothereby permit passage of said 'reel through said open upper end of saidside wall while precluding passage of said reel through said lower endof said side wall, an inwardly directed flexible element carried by theinterior of said side wall and spaced from said bottom element adistance substantially equal to the height of said lower flange memberof said reel whereby said lower flange member is resiliently wedgedbetween said flexible element and said bottom element, said spacebetween said peripheral portion of said upper flange member of said reeland the interior of said side wall of said container being smaller thanthe thickness of said elongated material whereby the end portion of saidelongated material is frictionally gripped when disposed therebetween.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said flange members ofsaid reel are substantially circular in cross-section and said side wallof said container is substantially cylindrical.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said reel includes acentral bore extending at least partially through said lower flangemember, said combination further including an ejector means having aspindle element for reception in said bore and an offset ledge portionlarger than said spindle element and smaller than said lower flangemember of said reel, said bottom element of said container defining anopening smaller than said lower flange of said reel to preclude passageof said reel therethrough and larger than said ledge portion of saidejector means to permit passage of said ledge portion therethrough forengaging said lower flange member of said reel to press said reel freefrom gripping relationship with said container.

4. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said core of said reelincludes an elongated central bore extending through said upper andlower flange members, said comibnation further including a shipping boxhaving a plurality of spindles dimensioned for reception in said boresof a corresponding plurality of said reels, said spindles being spacedfrom each other and from the side walls of said shipping boxsufiiciently to preclude contact by said containers with each other andwith said shipping box.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 204,758 6/1878Rice 242-138 1,029,094 6/ 1912 Ulmann. 1,704,474 3/ 1929 Hayden et a1.1,799,994 4/ 1931 Sternberg 31273 1,909,524 5/ 1933 Cullen. 2,015,2219/1935 Herrmann 242128 2,983,467 5/ 1961 Retherford 20664 3,190,4386/1965 Cain et a1. 206 3,207,297 9/ 1965 Zimmerman 20616 THERON E.CONDON, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Examiner.

1. IN COMBINATION, A REEL HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING CENTRAL COREAND UPPER AND LOWER FLANGE MEMBERS CARRIED BY SAID CORE AT THEEXTREMITIES OF SAID CORE, SAID FLANGE MEMBERS EXTENDING AT LEASTSUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULARLY TO SAID CORE, EACH OF SAID FLANGE MEMBERSHAVING A PERIPHERAL PORTION SPACED FROM SAID CORE, SAID PERIPHERALPORTIONS OF SAID UPPER AND LOWER FLANGE MEMBRS BEING SUBSTANTIALLYALIGNED, AN ELONGATED FILAMENTARY MATERIAL WOUND ON SAID CORE WITH THEEXTERIOR LAYER OF SAID MATERIAL EXTENDING A DISTANCE LESS THAN SAIDPERIPHERAL PORTIONS OF SAID FLANGE MEMBERS FROM SAID CORE, A CONTAINERRECEIVING SAID REEL AND INCLUDING AN ELONGATED, CONTINUOUS, TUBULAR SIDEWALL WITH AN OPEN UPPER END, SAID SIDE WALL BEING AT LEAST SUBSTANTIALLYAS LONG AS THE HEIGHT OF SAID REEL AND EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID PERIPHERALPORTIONS OF SAID FLANGE MEMBERS IN SPACED, PROTECTIVE, OVERLYINGRELATIONSHIP TO SAID ELONGATED MATERIAL, THE INTERIOR OF SAID SIDE WALLCORRESPONDIG IN CONFIGURATION TO THE SHAPE OF SAID PERIPHERAL PORTIONSOF SAID FLANGE MEMBERS AND SLIGHTLY EXCEEDING THE DIMENSIONS OF SAIDFLANGE MEMBERS TO DEFINE A SPACE BETWEN THE INTERIOR OF SAID SIDE WALLAND SAID PERIPHERAL PORTIONS OF SAID FLANGE MEMBERS, AND INWARDLYDIRECTED BOTTOM ELEMENT CARRIED BY THE LOWER